After voting to uphold the nomination on 24 February, LLF announced on 12 March 2004 that they were rescinding the nomination, an unprecedented step in the history of the awards. Marks said of the decision:
“The specific issue was whether the book was transphobic. The judges looked at the book more closely and decided it was.” (Letellier 2004)
In 2005, LLF accepted Marks’ resignation in June (Smith 2005) and closed their website in September, removing all materials about the controversy in the process (LLF 2005a). LLF eventually opened a new site at a new web address that makes no mention of the debacle (LLF 2005b).
Jim Marks GenderTalk interview, 9 February 2004
Below are excerpts from Marksâ comments during his interview with Gordene MacKenzie and Nancy Nangeroni on GenderTalk. (Nangeroni 2004a)
âThis is the first time an issue like this has come up because people generally donât nominate or suggest titles that are not sympathetic to our point of view.â
âWe are definitely an activist organization that believes in equal rights for gay people, lesbians, transgender people, so we donât get nominations from Focus on the Family kind of books.”
âWe have a nominating period in which books are nominated, mostly by publishers. We submit a whole list of titles to a finalist committee⊠They donât caucus with each other. They vote individually, and we compile the results, and thatâs how a book is selected as a finalist.â
âMost of them are bookstore owners or people who have a very broad awareness of the GLBT publishing world⊠so they do have a big overview. Theyâre almost all in the book business, which means that theyâre all overworked with much too much work and much too little time.â
âIt was pretty dramatic. We got an outpouring of emails when I came into the office on Tuesday February 3.â
Marks identified two issues that needed to be paramount: the âintegrity of the [selection] process and our mission.â
âWeâre trying to get a cross-section of the community and make sure the awards are representative of what the community in a larger sense than one person sitting at a desk here in Washington thinks⊠If the awards are going to be representative of that then what the community tells us, we have to say thatâs OK⊠We donât want to do something that going to interfere with the process and violate the process. But our mission is important to us as well.â
âWeâre going back to the whole finalist committee. I have been distributing emails as they come in, and weâre going to ask if we should keep this book on the finalist list or not⊠Iâve been distributing them to the finalist committee, asking if they should keep the book on the list or not.â
They want to take no more than two weeks from Friday, February 6 to reach a decision.
âIf the committee says âYouâre rushing us,â weâll take a little more time and let everybody talk about the issues⊠It needs to be something weâre happy with, that the process is fair and considered⊠The new members of our board of trustees are getting a close look at this⊠We are planning to give the whole process a step back and look at it and see what other ways we can do this.â
âThere is a pretty wide range [on the committee]. There are former winners and authors involved⊠One possibility is to set up some committees [for different categories] and start working much sooner.â
âThe other step in the process is that once the finalists are selected, they go to a separate set of panels. So the trans committee, there would be four people who are voting on the finalists in that category. We never say who was on one committee, but we do release the judges at the end of that process.â
Marks ended the interview by pointing out:
âItâs not just the trans community that Iâve heard from. I mean, there are more than transactivists who have said things to us and written.â
Jim Marks response of 13 February 2004
Below is the text of an “open letter” that I am publishing in the issue of Lambda Book Report that went to press today. I plan on posting this letter on our website on Monday.
Thanks to everyone for their input.
Jim
One thing about living in the Internet Age: When you hit a raw nerve, you learn about it quickly.
Late Monday, February 2, we posted the 16th annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists on our web site and sent out a press release announcing the finalists. Tuesday, February 3, when I opened my e-mail, I found my inbox stuffed with messages about one finalist. It was The Man Who Would Be Queen by Michael J. Bailey, chair of the department of psychology at Northwestern University, and published by Joseph Henry Press, an imprint of the National Academy of Sciences. The correspondents were alternately anguished and outraged by the bookâs selection as a finalist.
Caitlyn Antrim, for instance, wrote: “I believe this must have been a mishap because the content of [The Man Who Would Be Queen] represents the worst of stereotyping, outdated scientific opinion and misrepresentation. Even its appearance on your list of nominees contributes to harm of modern studies of transsexualism and femininity in boys.
“This is a book of anecdotes, not science. Its stories were obtained by stealth and misrepresentation. It engages in the worst of stereotyping of both transgender and gay and lesbian people. Prof. Bailey has admitted to falsifying, to the point of reversal of the truth, a key story of a young boy who he claimed to have been turned away from his transgender feelings by parental guidance. He has now admitted that he created that ending because it illustrated the point he wanted to make and that it Never Happened.”
Lynn Conway wrote, “I suspect that this must have been either an incredible oversight, or else by intrigue on the inside by transphobic members of Lambda.
“Whatever the case, I hereby alert you to the fact that Bailey’s book has generated perhaps the greatest crisis transsexual women have ever faced, for the book proclaims as âscienceâ that transsexual women are either (i) gay men who have sex changes so as to have many sex partners, and who are âespecially suited to prostitution,â or they are (ii) sexual paraphilics who change sex for autosexual reasons, in a severe paraphilia related to pedophilia…”
Perhaps most succinctly, Professor Deirdre McCloskey, whose book Crossing: A Memoir was a 1999 Finalist in this category, wrote: “Whoever made this decision needs to do a better job. A much better job. It would be like nominating Mein Kampf for a literary prize in Jewish studies.”
Many of these letters came with extensive documentation. McCloskey, a well-known economics professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, sent in a lengthy critical review of The Man ⊠and two letters to the editor of another publication concerning the inaccuracies of another review of the book.
On the other hand, as we go to press we are receiving comments such as this from Bradley University Associate Professor of Psychology David P. Schmitt, Ph.D.: ” I would like to express my opinion, as a sex researcher and scientist, that Mike Bailey’s book is based on sound scholarly evidence and reasoning, and certainly deserves recognition as a solid contribution to sexual science.”
This outpouring of concern raised the question, Should the book be taken off the list of finalists? As I examined that question, I came up with four different considerations:
1) The integrity of the process. The selection of The Man⊠was made not by Lambda Literary Foundation staff but by a finalists committee made up of a bakerâs dozen of the most knowledgeable GLBT book industry professionals. It would fly in the face of that process to summarily replace their decision with the judgment of a single administrator.
2) Censorship. The Lambda Literary Foundation believes in the free expression of ideas. It is not uncommon for us to publish reviews in Book Report that the editors might disagree with, but we respect the authorâs viewpoint and the honesty of their discussion. Similarly, it seems inappropriate for us to remove a book from consideration for a Lambda Literary Award because it doesnât meet some arbitrary standard of political correctness.
3) Mission. Hereâs where it gets complicated. Our mission is furthering GLBT literacy and understanding. A book that was frankly opposed to the rights of GLBT people would be in conflict with our mission, and we would be under no obligation to highlight with a Lambda Literary Awards finalist selection a book that is contrary to our reason for existence.
4) Ethics. As many of our correspondents noted, charges have been filed against Professor Bailey with his institution, Northwestern University. One person who has a leading role in Baileyâs book, Anjelica Kieltyka, called our office and spoke with us about how the book used her as a subject without her consent. It is at the least troubling to think that an ethically challenged work could be a Lammy finalist.
Whatever the ethical concerns, the LLF is not the appropriate forum for making a judgment: This must be done by a body of Professor Baileyâs peers. Similarly, censorship is not a key consideration: Weâre not preventing a book from appearing in the marketplace of ideas if we choose not to highlight it. Therefore, out of the concerns about the process and the LLFâs mission, we will further extend the process. In choosing the finalists to begin with, the procedures we have set up call for the finalist committee members to vote for their preferred titles in each category independently of each other. In any one category, there may be many books nominated, and our procedures are designed to highlight consensus, not have the equivalent of a runoff vote from the top contenders.
As far as I know, this is the first time a Lammy finalist book has been challenged as completely inconsistent with our mission. Therefore, in this new situation we will follow the suggestion of one finalists committee member and submit the question to the whole committee for reevaluation. They will consider all the issues and evidence presented, and then vote to keep or remove the book from the list. Weâll announce the results in the March issue of Lambda Book Report, and online as soon as they arrive at their decision.
âJim Marks
Jim Marks announces LLF’s decision to uphold nomination
Below is a letter sent on 24 February 2004.
Dear all,
Below is the text that has been posted on the Lambda Literary web site concerning The Man Who Would Be Queen. I know that you may be disappointed with the results of the finalists committee deliberations. The committee was aware of the depth of feeling about this book, and wrestled seriously with the issues that have been raised. We welcome comment and dialogue on this and other issues of importance to the glbt community.
Jim
Man Who Would Be Queen to Remain on Lambda Literary Awards Finalists List
After two weeks of discussion, the Finalists Committee for the Lambda Literary Awards voted to retain The Man Who Would Be Queen as a finalist for the 2003 Transgender Award.”This was a very difficult decision, and I appreciate the seriousness and integrity with which the committee considered the issues raised by the opponents and supporters of The Man Who Would Be Queen,” said Jim Marks, Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, which organizes the annual Lambda Literary Awards (Lammys). “They have been very sensitive about the depth of feeling on this matter.”
When the 2003 Lambda Literary Award finalists were announced, the selection of The Man Who Would Be Queen touched off a firestorm of protest that the book was transphobic, poor science and that the author, J. Michael Bailey, was the subject of ethics charges at Northwestern University, where he chairs the Department of Psychology.
The book also drew equally strong expressions of support from other transgender activists and from colleagues in the field of study.
Given the range of opinions heard by the Finalists Committee, it agreed to focus on whether the content of the book was at odds with the Lambda Literary Foundationâs mission of supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through cultural literacy. The viewpoint that received the majority vote was that “Bailey has not set out to intentionally do harm to gay men and transsexuals. He doesn’t get it on some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does.”
With the Finalists Committee decision made, now a panel of judges will consider which of the five books in this category will be selected for the 2003 Lambda Literary Award. The five finalists in the transgender category are: She’s Not There, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Broadway Books); The Drag King Anthology, Donna Troka, Kathleen Lebesco, Jean Noble, eds. (Harrington Park Press); The Man Who Would Be Queen, by J. Michael Bailey (Joseph Henry Press); Trans-gendered, by Justin Tanis (The Pilgrim Press); and Transgender Journeys, by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott and Vanessa Sheridan (The Pilgrim Press). The same judging process will be followed for the books in the other 19 categories.The results of the judgesâ decisions will be announced at a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel.
Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004.
For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or call 202-682-0952.
Additional information:
How was the book selected in the first place?
The finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards were nominated by their publishers and other authorized agents in the fall of 2003; the nomination period closed December 15, 2003. The finalists in each category were chosen by an ad hoc committee of LGBT book professionals. Committee members voted independently of each other and their votes were not shared with other committee members. Choices were ranked on a scale of 5 to 1 (five being the highest score) and the five books with the highest totals were selected as finalists.
Did every member of the finalist committee vote for the books selected as finalists?
No. Because of the ranking system, the fact that categories could have many entrants and that there is no runoff, it is quite possible for a book to become a Lammy finalist without all the Finalists Committee members voting for it.
What about the questions raised on the bookâs scientific merit?
In an Open Letter published in the February 2004 Lambda Book Report, Lambda Literary Foundation executive director Jim Marks discussed the ethical and censorship issues raised by the call to remove the book from the list. As the committee discussed the points being raised, and we continued receiving comments from the public, it became clear that opinion on the scientific merit of the book was divided. For instance, we received comments from two members of the editorial board of the Journal of Sex Research, one speaking on behalf of the book, the other questioning it. Given such a division of expert opinion, it was beyond the competence of a literary review panel to make a judgment on scientific merit.
— Jim Marks, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation LLF Programs: Lambda Book Report, The James White Review, Lambda Literary Awards and Lambda Literary Festival Online at www.lambdalit.org 202-682-0952; 202-682-0955 fax; PO Box 73910, Washington, DC 20056-3910 shipping address: 1217 Eleventh St. NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC 20001
Lambda Literary Foundation revokes nomination
Below is an announcement that we are posting on our web site today. I would like to thank everyone for their comments and e-mails. We welcome additional comments or discussion, although our limited staff and resources preclude answering everyone personally.
Jim
March 12, 2004.
The Lambda Literary Foundation announced that “The Man Who Would Be Queen” has been removed as a 16th Annual Lambda Literary Award finalist.
The change was prompted by a request from the panel of judges that is reading all the finalists in the transgender category, which said the book was not appropriate for the category. The Foundation does not identify the judges to the public or each other until the Awards banquet, which this year will be held June 3, in Chicago, IL. Upon receiving the request, executive director Jim Marks went back to the Finalist Committee, which had selected the book originally. A majority of the committee agreed to honor the request.
Because the action was unprecedented, it provoked heated discussion within the Finalist Committee. Finalist Committee member Kris Kleindienst said, “Removing the book from the list is not censorship. The book is widely available, has been widely reviewed and is not about to be denied to the public. What we are doing is behaving in a responsible manner to make sure the list of finalists is compatible with the Foundationâs mission. Having looked at the book closely, I am sure it is not.” Several committee members echoed Kleindienstâs views.
Finalist Committee member Victoria Brownworth, along with several others, disagreed on the censorship issue. “Banning a book and censoring a book are two different things. While I hate to be the titular voice of the ACLU here, especially since I personally disagree with many aspects of Bailey’s book, if we take the book off the list we are indeed censoring it. It doesn’t matter what our reasons are.”
“This has been a difficult and humbling experience for the Foundation,” said Executive Director Jim Marks. “Weâve never before had a case in which a book, whose author and publisher both affirm their support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, has at the same time been opposed by those who say its content in fact is antithetical to those rights.”
“Throughout the controversy that has raged over the bookâs selection as a finalist, we have struggled to maintain the integrity of the process.” Marks said. “Since the impetus for the change came from the within the categoryâs judges, and was reviewed and voted on by the Finalist Committee, we feel that the decision is consistent with our process.”
The recipients of the 16th Lambda Literary Awards will be announced at a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel.
Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004.
For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or call 202-682-0952.
Jim Marks GenderTalk interview 15 March 2004
Excerpts from an interview immediately after the announcement (Nangeroni 2004b).
Jim Marks:
We have a three-tiered process: books are nominated by the publisher, then the finalists are selected from a list of books that are nominated by a Finalists Committee. Then the five finalists are sent to a panel of judges in each category
We heard from one of the judges in the transgender category asking that the book be removed. So I went back to the Finalists Committee and asked them if they would honor that request. And they agreed to do that.
We list the judges in the program– know who the other judges are. Itâs done independently, itâs not done in consultation with other judges. Itâs all individuals reading the books and making decisions based on their reading.
My understanding is that the judge objected to the content, that it just was not supportive of transgender and gay issues.
Nancy Nangeroni:
Would we be inaccurate in saying that itâs Transphobic… Did the judge agree with those of us who are saying that?
Jim Marks:
Certainly the judge did, and the finalist committee agreed to remove the book. The vote, because it was a majority vote, agreed with that.
People read the book a little more closely, I think, once it became brought to their attention. Some people who had read the book four or five months earlier, so I think it was given a closer reading. Because mostly the finalist committee is made up of booksellers and people who have a very broad knowledge of the gay and lesbian book community so that theyâre able to say, âOh these are the books that have really popped up over the course of the year, books that people are talking about, books that we know have really been significant one way or another,â but then the judges are the ones who are entrusted to read the books very closely.
This is the first time we have ever done this.
My whole focus from the beginning was to make sure that opinions were heard, but that the decision-making was not in response to anything that would be like pressure, but simply out of the basic processes that we have set up already. The response that people got from the community certainly alerted people to the issues that were at hand, and I think some people went back and looked at the book more closely because of that. We would not have re-examined this issue if the judge hadnât come back to us and said, âI just donât think this is right for a Lambda Literary Award finalist.â
There are two things: it was not a clear-cut one way or another in terms of how the finalist committee voted. It was a majority of the votes, so only a couple of people changing their opinion, their views, made a difference there.
It was only a couple of people⊠the people who voted to keep it on the list were not necessarily supportive of the book in that they agreed with the content, but they thought that this was obviously a controversial book. They thought it raised scientific and⊠They thought it raised important questions. They also thought that having gone through the process that we ought to respect the process and not change it.
There were a lot of reasons for the original decisions that were not based on âWe believe in this bookâ but because of people believing that the book had raised significant issues or that the process was one that we ought to be respecting and maintaining.
One good part of this is that we have been in touch with a number of people, and I really hope to get a⊠And I know our board, Katherine Forrest is on our board, and she is definitely talking about expanding our board and including a trans person on that.
Aftermath
In June 2005, Marks was ousted as Executive Director, a position he’d held almost continuously since 1996. On 7 June, a majority of Lambda Literary Foundation Board of Trustees voted to accept the resignation.
Trustees accepting:
Jim Duggins, retired academic who lives in Palm Springs, Calif.
Katherine V. Forrest, an author based in San Francisco
Karla Jay, an author who lives in New York
Don Wiese, a New York editor at Carroll & Graf
Trustees not accepting
Jim Marks, ousted director
Nick Apostol, Jim Marks’ domestic partner (Smith 2005)
LLF also sold their building on 16 June and suspended publication of the James White Review and the Lambda Book Report.
Founder Deacon Maccubbin noted “issues were skipped or late getting on newsstands,” which “hurt its credibility.” Trustee Katherine Forrest said “Both of the publications have been operating chronically in the red, really, since they left the umbrella of the Lambda Rising bookstore. Weâre talking about nine or 10 years that itâs just been sputtering along.â Forrest said there has been an âongoing, chronic problemâ with the Lambda Book Reportâs ability to publish in a timely manner. It was supposed to be available monthly, but often was late coming out. (Smith 2005) Marks has since claimed his resignation had nothing to do with the financial difficulties cited by LLF’s founder and trustees, nor anything to do with the mishandling of the Bailey fiasco. (Marks 2006)
Their lambdalit.org website went offline after the announcement, eventually reappearing in 2006 as a text-only site consisting of three pages. A new site at lambdaliterary.org went live at the end of 1995, announcing “Welcome to the New Lambda Literary Foundation.” Any mention of the Bailey debacle was gone from the new site.
Gerulf Rieger is a psychologist best known for publishing “science” that claimed bisexual men don’t exist. After getting money from bisexual activist John Sylla at the American Institute of Bisexuality, Rieger suddenly “discovered” male bisexuality. Sylla was also an author on Rieger’s published “discovery,” an unethical conflict of interest.
Rieger is also infamous for “science” claiming no woman is “totally straight.”
Rieger has also published anti-trans “science” claiming that trans women exhibit “male arousal patterns.” Rieger is on the editorial board of anti-trans journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Background
Rieger was born in July 1972. Rieger earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Vienna in 1995, followed by a master’s degree from University of Zurich in 1999. Rieger then attended Northwestern University, earning a master’s degree in 2004 and a doctorate in 2006.
Rieger’s dissertation advisor was anti-trans psychologist J. Michael Bailey. Bailey is notorious for engaging in “science by press conference,” a way of getting money and attention for questionable research through carefully timed media manipulation. Bailey is also known for work in the field of eugenics. Bailey has made a career of controversial “findings” about minorities which are reported uncritically by inept journalists. Bailey’s “finding” is later called into question and/or retracted after the damage is done. By then Bailey is on to some new “finding,” and the pattern of using gullible journalists begins again.
Rieger did postdoctoral work at Cornell University before taking a Lecturer position at University of Essex in 2014. As of 2024, Rieger was no longer listed as a Reader on the University of Essex psychology staff. Rieger was then affiliated with Webster Vienna Private University in Vienna, Austria.
Rieger on bisexuality (2002âpresent)
Rieger became famous for parroting Bailey’s claims that “true bisexuality” does not exist in men, who are “gay, straight, or lying.” These claims were supported by plethysmograph quackery initially published by Rieger in 2002:
Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002. (Rieger 2004, poster published via morov.com)
Rieger’s greatest media triumph was a 2005 puff piece by Benedict Carey in the New York Times. Titled “Straight, Gay, or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited,” it was one of the most widely shared stories from the Times website in the week following publication. Carey called Rieger’s claims “a new study” in an article timed to coincide with the opening of the International Academy of Sex Research conference, where the study had been presented three years earlier. The only apparent difference is the sample size. Carey’s report drew widespread criticism from media watchdog groups and civil rights groups including FAIR and GLAAD.
Rieger is also infamous for claiming no woman is “totally straight.” In a “science by press conference” piece for The Telegraph, Rieger said of women, “Our research shows that, when it comes to what turns them on they are usually bisexual or gay, but never totally straight”.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
In 2003, Rieger’s dissertation advisor J. Michael Bailey published the transphobic book The Man Who Would Be Queen. After several academics expressed concerns about Bailey’s unscientific and exploitative lectures in support of the book at Emory on 8 April 2003 (reported by Dr. Saralyn Chesnut) and at Stanford on 23 April 2003 (reported by noted biologist Joan Roughgarden), Bailey complained about “irate transsexuals” in a terse response to Rieger [all links added for reference]:
From: Gerulf Rieger gerulf[at]northwestern.edu Date: Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:36:08 AM US/Central To: gluu[at]listserv.it.northwestern.edu Cc: rainbow[at]listserv.it.northwestern.edu Subject: Dr. Bailey’s reply: Prof. Michael Bailey’s lecture lacks sensitivityâŠ
Here is a message from Professor Bailey, my advisor. Gerulf
Background: Roughgarden is a transsexual woman (who used to be a man), who is part of a group (I think a small one) who is extremely angry with me about my recent book, The Man Who Would Be Queen. For examples of vitriol (to the extent that one put dirty captions under pictures of my children) see:
The main complaint is that I do not believe that all transsexuals are “women trapped in men’s bodies” but instead, believe the scientific evidence that one type of male-to-female transsexual is, prior to transition, a man with a sexual obsession for being a woman. The other type can be conceived of as an extremely feminine type of gay man. I explain in the book why the first type of transsexual tends to be very threatened by this explanation of their behavior. I posted on this before here, so instead of doing so again, I refer interested people to a website where they can read the book: (available to read for free at)
The second section, on homosexuality, is what I lectured about at Stanford. The third section is the one that has Roughgarden mad. The transsexuals have been writing everyone possibly affiliated with the book, from the publisher (and someone in the upper echelon has a wife who is good friends with one Lynn Conway–see negative review #1 above–and this resulted in the book being taken off the publisher’s website for nearly 24 hours) to people who wrote positive blurbs on the cover (Steven Pinker and David Buss, for example) to my colleagues. I don’t have time for individual responses to irate transsexuals, so I’m writing something for my webpage.
In 2003, Rieger appeared in a short film by fellow Northwestern grad Jason Bolicki, titled “Twenty Gay Stereotypes Confirmed.” It was described as “a tongue-in-cheek look at gay stereotypes using the director’s childhood home movies.”
Rieger then solicited home movies that demonstrated stereotypes based on sexual orientation.
http:// www.gptforum.com/forum/Topic14319.htm
Men and Women Wanted in Paid Northwestern Study Reply to: gerulf[at]northwestern.edu Date: 2005-05-21, 5:55PM CDT
Men and Women wanted who have home movies from their childhood and are willing to be interviewed for a study on child development. Participation takes about two hours. Participants will be paid $50. Please call Gerulf Rieger at Northwestern University, The Human Sexuality Lab at 847 / 491-3820. You may also email gerulf[at]northwestern.edu . IRB#: 0108-016
Please note: in order to be eligible for this study, you must have a childhood home movie of yourself (approximately ages 0-10), and bring it with you during your interview.
* Job location is Evanston * Compensation: $50
Rieger’s mentor J. Michael Bailey previously misused clips of gender diverse children for the amusement of “academic” audiences.
In 2007 Bailey and Rieger appeared on CNN to support their claims about stereotypically “gay” walking style, with Bailey as the “straight” one (Cohen 2007). Never have two people been filmed walking more self-consciously.
Bond, Alison (September 22, 2005). Grad studentâs study sparks criticism from bisexuals.Daily Northwestern https://dailynorthwestern.com/2005/09/22/archive-manual/grad-students-study-sparks-criticism-from-bisexuals/ original URL http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/23/43339007ed9b2 [archive]
Creager, Cyndi (July 7, 2005). New York Times Promotes Bisexual Stereotypes in “Straight, Gay or Lying?” GLAAD http://www.glaad.org/action/write_now_detail.php?id=3827&PHPSESSID=0b9e8b63af283601f7dc071e1a4c4568 [archive]
DeNoon, Daniel J. (August 30, 2005). Do Bisexual Men Really Exist?WebMD via CBS News, Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD https://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-bisexual-men-really-exist/
Drier, Sarah; Anderson, Kevin (April 21, 2003). Profâs book challenges opinions of human sexuality. Bailey tackles sensitive transsexuality issues; some find his views offensive. Daily Northwesternhttp://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/21/3ea39785e6cef?in_archive=1 [archive]
Selected publications
Holmes L, Rieger G, Paulmann S (2024). The effect of sexual orientation on voice acoustic properties. Frontiers in Psychology (Vol. 15). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412372
Rieger G (2023). Genetically identical twins discordant for sexual orientation: potential reasons for their differences. Genetics and evolution of sexual orientation meeting at The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2023/03/sexual-orientation/ [archive]
About 75% of genetically identical twins who are homosexual have heterosexual co-twins, and it is largely unknown what causes their difference. However, the majority of past work with such twin pairs was based on self-reports, which can be biased, and how these twins truly differ remained uncertain. The author will summarise research from his lab showing that these twins differ in behavioural, physiological, and anatomical traits linked to sexual orientation: gender-nonconformity, genital arousal, and finger length ratios, respectively. Dr Rieger will then propose a mechanism that explains their different development. About 30% of identical twins develop with separate placentas. Maternal androgens or antibodies could diffuse differently through these placentas, affecting the differentiated development of the twins. The author will also propose a study design to indirectly test this hypothesis.
Milani S, Zhang JY, Zdaniuk B, Bogaert A, Rieger G, Brotto LA (2022). Examining Visual Attention Patterns among Asexual and Heterosexual Individuals. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 60, Issue 2, pp. 271â281). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2078768
Gruia DC, Holmes L, Raines J, Slettevold E, Watts-Overall TM, Rieger G (2022). Stability and Change in Sexual Orientation and Genital Arousal over Time. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 60, Issue 2, pp. 294â304). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2060927
Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Rieger G (2022). The relationship between finger length ratio, masculinity, and sexual orientation in women: A correlational study. In L. Bartos (Ed.), PLOS ONE (Vol. 17, Issue 3, p. e0259637). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259637
Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Rieger G (2021). Sex Differences in Sexual Arousal and Finger Length Ratio. Journal of Sex Research (Vol. 59, Issue 4, pp. 515â523). https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1874262
Sanders AR, Beecham GW, Guo S, Dawood K, Rieger G, Krishnappa RS, Kolundzija AB, Bailey JM, Martin ER (2021). Genome-Wide Linkage and Association Study of Childhood Gender Nonconformity in Males. Archives of Sexual Behavior50, 3377â3383 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02146-x
Holmes, L., Watts-Overall, T.M., Slettevold, E. et al. Sexual Orientation, Sexual Arousal, and Finger Length Ratios in Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior 50, 3419â3432 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02095-5
Raines J, Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Slettevold E, Gruia DC, Orbell S, Rieger G (2021). Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men. Psychological Science (Vol. 32, Issue 4, pp. 485â495). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620971654
Rieger G, Holmes L, Watts-Overall TM, Gruia DC, Bailey JM, Savin-Williams RC (2020). Gender Nonconformity of Bisexual Men and Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior 49, 2481â2495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01766-z
Rieger G, Watts-Overall TM, Holmes L, Gruia DC (2020). Gender Nonconformity of Identical Twins with Discordant Sexual Orientations: Evidence from Video Recordings. Archives of Sexual Behavior49, 2469â2479 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01709-8
Bailey, J.M., Rieger, G., Krishnappa, R.S. et al. Familiality of Gender Nonconformity Among Homosexual Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior49, 2461â2468 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01626-w
Jabbour, J., Holmes, L., Sylva, D., Hsu, K. J., Semon, T. L., Rosenthal, A. M., Safron, A., Slettevold, E., Watts-Overall, T. M., Savin-Williams, R. C., Sylla, J., Rieger, G., & Bailey, J. M. (2020). Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 117, Issue 31, pp. 18369â18377). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003631117
Slettevold, E., Holmes, L., Gruia, D., Nyssen, C. P., Watts-Overall, T. M., & Rieger, G. (2019). Bisexual men with bisexual and monosexual genital arousal patterns. In Biological Psychology (Vol. 148, p. 107763). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107763
An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 48(3) of Archives of Sexual Behavior (see record 2018-64336-001).
Sanders, A., Beecham, G., Guo, S., Dawood, K., Rieger, G., Krishnappa, R., Kolundzija, A., Bailey, J. M., & Martin, E. (2019). S67GENOME-WIDE LINKAGE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD GENDER NONCONFORMITY IN MALES. In European Neuropsychopharmacology (Vol. 29, p. S148). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.08.068
Booker CL, Rieger G, Unger JB (2017). Sexual orientation health inequality: evidence from understanding society, the UK longitudinal household study. Preventive Medicine 101, 126-132 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.06.010
Rieger G, Bailey JM (2005). The misfit of sex atypicality (IASR conference paper) iasr.org/meeting/2005/abstracts2005.doc [archive]
Homosexual people tend to reject sex-atypical partners: Homosexual men tend to find feminine men less attractive, and conversely, lesbians tend to find masculine women less attractive. We investigated what traits could trigger this disadvantage. Ten-second video clips of 95 targets, ages 18 to 30, were judged on sex atypicality of their movements, voice patters and appearances by 58 raters of both sexes and sexual orientations without explicit information on the targets’ sexual orientation. Another sex of 121 raters of both sexes/sexual orientations would rate targets on attractiveness, rating their preferred sex, again without explicit information on the targets’ sexual orientation. Homosexual targets of both sexes were, on average, rated as having more sex-atypical movements, voices, and appearance (ds = .6 to 1.5, ps < .01). The expressions of these traits were significantly related to each other (rs = .4 to .7, ps < .05) and we thus computed one factor of sex atypicality. Using a multi-factorial design, including raters as random factor, we would then assess the relation between sex atypicality and attractiveness. In men, only the most sex-atypical targets were judged to be less attractive (b = -.11, p < .0001). In women, however, both moderate and strong expressions of sex atypicality seemed to affect attractiveness negatively (b = -.12, p < .0001). Independent of their sex atypicality, homosexual men were less attractive than same sex heterosexuals (b = -.12, p < .0001), and lesbians were rated to be less attractive than heterosexual women (b = -.09, p < .0001). Thus a yet unknown parameter related to homosexuality seemed relevant to raters. Attraction patterns were mostly unaffected by the raters’ sex or sexual orientation, and self reported gender identity and homophobia.
Siler-Knogl AK, Rieger G, Bailey JM. Sex Atypicality and Attractiveness in Gay and Heterosexual People. Psychological Science 2004. Later ASB paper https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9512-8
Gay people are more sex-atypical (e.g. feminine men, masculine women), yet they don’t seem to seek sex-atypical partners. However, this study suggests that while sex atypicality enhances attractiveness, independently, homosexuality has a negative effect, especially for men. Thus, a yet undefined factor seems to detriment the attractiveness of gay people.
Chivers ML, Rieger G, Latty E, Bailey JM (2004). A Sex Difference in the Specificity of Sexual Arousal. Psychological Science, 15(11), 736-744. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00750.x
Chivers ML, Rieger G, Latty EM, Bailey JM (2003). A Sex Difference in the Specificity of Sexual Arousal. Psychological Science conference 2003.
Sexual arousal is category-specific in men; heterosexual men are more aroused by female than by male sexual stimuli, while homosexual men show the opposite pattern. There is reason to believe that female sexual arousal is altogether differently organized. We assessed genital and subjective sexual arousal to male and female sexual stimuli in women, men, and postoperative male-to-female transsexuals. In contrast to men, women showed little category-specificity on either genital or subjective measures. Both heterosexual and homosexual women experienced strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli. Transsexuals showed a category-specific pattern, demonstrating that category specificity can be detected in the neovagina using a photoplethysmographic measure of female genital sexual arousal. In a second study, we showed that our female results are unlikely to be explained by ascertainment biases. These findings suggest that sexual arousal patterns play a fundamentally different role in male and female sexuality.
Rieger G (2003). Research interests. J. Michael Bailey faculty website http://www.psych.nwu.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/rieger.html [archive]
Rieger G, Chivers ML, Bailey JM (2002), Who are bisexual men? Sexual orientation and sexual arousal in men. International Academy of Sex Research conference http://www.iasr.org/meeting/2002/abstracts_2002.pdf [archive]
Media
Cara Delevingne (2022). Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne. BBC 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0df24z1/planet-sex-with-cara-delevingne
Brittany Blockman and Josephine Decker (2008). Bi the Way. [featuring Ritch Savin-Williams, Dan Savage, Gerulf Rieger, Pepper Schwartz, Meredith Chivers, J. Michael Bailey]
Lesley Stahl (August 27, 2006). “Gay or Straight?” [featuring J. Michael Bailey, Gerulf Rieger, and Marc Breedlove] 60 Minutes S38E25 CBS
“Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002.” [published 2003]
I am interested in human behavior, especially non-verbal behavior that does not depend on self-reports. Right now I am of course interested in human sexuality. What are the causes and the effects of a person’s sexual orientation? Could there be any adaptive qualities to being gay? Is sexual orientation correlated with any other personality traits, and if so, what can they tell us about the development of sexual orientation?
Right now, we are working on a study on the butch and femme behavior of gay people and at its effects on the mate value of the individual. We do know that gay men tend to prefer masculine men as partners and claim that they want “no femmes”. Lesbians on the other hand seek feminine partners and want “no butches” (link to Mike’s butch, femme study). Despite this tendency towards attraction for gender conforming traits, we also know that gay men are on average more feminine than heterosexual men and that lesbians are, on average, more masculine than heterosexual women (link to Mike’s unpublished study). However, we do not yet know what specific characteristics gay men mean when they say “no femmes” and what do lesbians mean when they want “no butches.
Recently, we finished our study on male sexual arousal and sexual orientation. We were most interested in figuring out whether putative bisexual men do really get aroused to both men and women. There has been a long-lasting skepticism as to whether bisexual men are really what they say they are. Some people suggested that they are closet gay men. Others said that they are confused heterosexual men. So what are they? We invited all heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men into our lab, and measured their sexual arousal with help of a penile strain gauge while showing them movies of naked men or of naked women. We found no obvious bisexual arousal trends for the bisexual men. Most of them showed arousal like gay men, and a few got aroused like heterosexual men. Here you will find a link to the poster, which was presented at the IASR conference in Hamburg in the Summer of 2002.
My next project will have a closer look at the possible genetic contribution to sexual orientation. We plan to work with discordant twins. These are identical twins, who differ on a specific trait. In our case, this will be their sexual orientation. For example, one twin is a gay man, but his brother is heterosexual. This could support the idea that sexual orientation is not solely genetically determined. However, no one has to our knowledge ever systematically tried to explore the twins’ sexual orientation by other means than pure self-report. There are several traits that we know gay and heterosexual people differ. We can use these traits to study our twins. How different or similar are these discordant twins in their psychology, their voices, their movements, or less subtle, their sexual arousal, and their brain activity while sexual aroused?
Personal Information
On a personal note, I seem to be a person who likes to move. I started in Biology in Vienna then moved to Biological Anthropology in Zurich and now I am here at Northwestern in the Psychology Department.
Here’s a picture of me & Marcel, [http://www.psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/pictures/gerulf&marcel.jpg archive] and one of me and some people from the lab [http://www.psych.northwestern.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/pictures/gerulfparty.jpg archive] at a party.
Cornell University Sex and Gender Lab (sexgenderlab.human.cornell.edu) [archive]
“Research interests: My work focuses on sexual orientation: how it is organized, how it develops, and how it affects a persons life. I use a diversity of methodologies, including self-report, behavioural observations, physiological activity and neurological correlates, and employ an array of quantitative skills in order to pursue my research. I use videos and photos from childhood to examine whether masculine and feminine behaviours during early development predict adult sexual orientation. I also investigate the social impact of these signals. I have used large data sets of family members to investigate potential evolutionary reasons for sexual orientation. In another line of research, I study the association of sexual orientation with physiological sexual arousal in order to illuminate sex differences in sexual response. With a different methodology, pupil dilation, I am currently conducting research that will aid in explaining how early sex and sexual orientation differences in sexual attraction emerge. These studies have broad relevance for understanding how people perceive themselves and others, for the consequences of these perceptions, and for the development of differences between and within the sexes.”
Note: The original 2003 URL for this article was http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/gerulf-rieger.html [archive]
Devendra Singh was an Indian-American evolutionary psychologist who held harmful and biased views about sex and gender minorities.
Background
Singh was born January 12, 1938 in Urai, India. Singh earned a master’s degree in philosophy at Agra University before earning a doctorate in psychology at Ohio State University in 1966. Following positions at Wright State University and North Dakota State University, Singh began teaching at University of Texas at Austin in 1969.
Singh is best known for research about waist-to-hip ratio in women, which Singh claimed has evolutionary significance.
Singh was married to Barbara Singh (1943â2022) and had three children. Singh died on May 18, 2010.
Views on sex and gender minorities
In 2000 Scott M. Strong, Singh, and Patrick K. Randall published an article that claimed “a ‘high feminine’ subtype of gay males had greater body dissatisfaction than ‘less feminine’ subtypes had.”
Singh appeared with a number of anti-trans activists on the series The Sex Files in an episode titled “Homosexuality.”
Why are some people gay? That’s the $64,000 question – at least in the scientific community. Is it something genetically predetermined? Or does environment have an impact on whether an individual turns out to be gay or lesbian? These questions are beginning to be probed in ways that might finally be leading to an answer, and the Sex Files has interviewed the foremost authorities on the topic to uncover some of those scientific clues:
Dr. Devendra Singh, University of Texas psychologist specializing in the evolutionary significance of human physical attractiveness
Dr. Michael Bailey, professor of psychology at Northwestern University in Illinois and specialist in the genetics and environment of sexual orientation
Dr. Marc Breedlove, professor of psychology* specialising in the sexual differentiation of the brain.
Singh was also a mentor to J. Michael Bailey’s son Drew Bailey.
Exploration Production (November 20, 2000). S02 E08: Homosexuality. The Sex Files
Strong SM, Singh D, Randall PK (2000). Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Body Dissatisfaction in Gay and Heterosexual Men. Sex Roles https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007126814910
* The original episode guide described Dr. Breedlove as a “professor of psychology at UCLA.” Dr. Breedlove noted in 2008 “I am not, and have never been, a professor of psychology or of anything else at UCLA.” Breedlove earned his Ph.D. at UCLA but taught at UC Berkeley before taking an appointment at Michigan State.
David Sylva is an American psychologist whose graduate work involved questionable studies about sex and gender minorities.
Background
David M. “Dave” Sylva was born in July 1980. Sylva did graduate work with controversial Northwestern University psychologist J. Michael Bailey. Bailey is well known for work in the field of anti-LGBT eugenics, which Bailey euphemistically calls “parental selection of children’s sexual orientation.” Bailey’s other students at the time included Gerulf Rieger, Chris Skidmore, and Elizabeth Latty.
One of Sylva’s early projects was to claim that gay men can be identified by their stereotypical gait.
Bailey claimed for years that male bisexuality did not exist, stating that men are “gay, straight, or lying.” After taking money from the American Institute of Bisexuality, Sylva and Bailey grad students Jeremy Jabbour and Luke Holmes magically “discovered” bisexual orientation among men.
After the bisexuality organization paid Sylva to “discover” male bisexuality, Sylva’s 2012 dissertation was titled âNeural Correlates of Sexual Arousal in Bisexual, Homosexual, and Heterosexual Men.â Since that payoff, Sylva’s work has been used to shore up one of Bailey’s other claims: that women may not have a sexual orientation.
Impact on transgender clients at Kaiser
Following this amazing “discovery” with Bailey, Sylva then began working for insurance company Kaiser Permanente in California.
Licensure:
NPI Number: #1790106961
Medical license: PSY26122 (CA)
Though Sylva is a member of WPATH, sex and gender minorities should avoid getting healthcare from Sylva due to this professional affiliation with J. Michael Bailey and associated anti-trans psychologists.
Safron A, Sylva D, Klimaj V, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2018). Neural Correlates of Sexual Orientation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Women. Scientific Reports. 8: 673 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep41314
Safron A, Sylva D, Klimaj V, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2017). Neural Correlates of Sexual Orientation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Men. Scientific Reports. 7: 41314 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18372-0
Jabbour J, Holmes L, Sylva D, Bailey JM (2020). Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 (31) 18369-18377 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003631117
Klimaj V, Safron A, Sylva D, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2021). Sexual Orientation and Neuroanatomy: An MRI Study of Gray Matter Differences in Homosexual, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women and Men. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zuyhp
Klimaj V, Safron A, Sylva D, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, and Bailey JM (2021). Comparing the Structure and Function of Social-cognition-related Brain Areas in Bisexual, Heterosexual, and Homosexual Women and Men. PsyArXiv, August 16 https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/62wvd
Sylva D, Safron A, Rosenthal AM, et al. (2013) Neural correlates of sexual arousal in heterosexual and homosexual women and men. Hormones and Behavior. 64: 673-84 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.003
Sylva D, Rieger G, Linsenmeier JAW, Bailey JM (2010). Concealment of sexual orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 39: 141-52 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9466-2
Can you tell whether someone’s gay just by the way he or she walks?
David Sylva wants to know. He straps bright red lights to people’s bodies and videotapes them walking in the dark. He then shows the videotape to observers (who won’t be biased by clothing or hairstyles since the walker is in the dark) and asks them to guess the walker’s sexual orientation.
Sylva’s observations focus on the physical characteristics of the individual’s stride, such as the closeness of the knees.
Why does Sylva, a graduate student at Northwestern University, care so much about how gay people walk? Because he’s one of a growing number of researchers who think sexual orientation may be as basic as how you walk, something inborn that you don’t choose.
David Sylva, a graduate student at Northwestern University, has been studying individual walking styles to see if homosexuals’ strides are different from those of their straight counterparts. He hopes the data will give support to the nature side of the sexual orientation argument.
Connie Lee (July 6, 2007). Research points to inherit [sic] trait for homosexuality; some dispute. The Purdue Exponent. http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php?module=article&story_id=6347 [archive]
Below: Skidmore as he appears on Bailey’s website.
Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Distress in Lesbians and Gay Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Volume 35, Number 6 / December, 2006
W. Christopher Skidmore, Joan A. W. Linsenmeier and J. Michael Bailey
Abstract
Some lesbians and gay men tend to be more gender nonconforming, on average and for certain traits, than their heterosexual counterparts. Gender nonconformity in childhood has also been linked to adult homosexuality. Studies of both lesbians and gay men also find elevated rates of psychological distress. We hypothesized that these facts may be related. Individuals who violate social norms for gender-appropriate behavior may suffer from stigmatization by both heterosexual and homosexual people, leading to higher levels of psychological distress. We examined whether several measures of gender nonconformity were related to psychological distress in a community-based sample of gay men and lesbians. These included self-reports of childhood and adulthood gender nonconformity, as well as observer ratings of current behavior. Several measures of gender nonconformity were related to each other for both lesbians and gay men. In addition, gender nonconformity was related to psychological distress, but only for gay men. Finally, both lesbian and gay male participants reported more positive attitudes towards gender conformity than nonconformity, although the pattern was somewhat different for each group. We discuss the implications of these results for future studies of gender nonconformity and for the promotion of psychological health in lesbians and gay men.
29. 03. 2007 :: :: Sexuality Experiment for Heterosexual, Homosexual, Bisexual, and Queer Men Chris Skidmore Northwestern University Your answers are completely confidential, and you won ‘t have to provide identifying information about yourself. People say the study is fun, and it doesn’t take long. You will have a chance to enter to win a gift certificate, too. Men, over the age of 18, wanted for a study about relationships and health (IRB #0108-017). Participation takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes. You will have a chance to win one of three $50 gift certificates if you choose to participate.
Bailey is well known for his work in the field of eugenics.
Barbara Kline Pope is an American marketing executive responsible for publishing one of the most transphobic books ever written, The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey.
Background
Pope was born on October 27, 1959 and grew up in York, Pennsylvania. Pope earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and a master’s degree from University of Maryland in 1990.
Pope held various marketing positions at the National Academies from 1983 until 2017, then was appointed Director of Johns Hopkins University Press.
Pope’s spouse Andrew M. “Andy” Pope (born 19500 has also worked at the National Academies, serving as Director of the Board on Health Sciences Policy and at the Institute of Medicine. They have adult children.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
In 2003 Pope was Executive Director of the National Academies Press (NAP) in Washington, DC. During the controversy, Pope was also named Executive Director of Communications, a post formerly held by Suzanne Woolsey.
Pope was responsible for training and direction of professional managers in all areas of publishing, including their trade arm Joseph Henry Press. Pope’s employees, editor Stephen Mautner and publicist Robin Pinnel, were key contributors in the decisions about editing, fact-checking, and promoting Bailey’s book. Pope’s major focus is marketing:
“Branding, marketing research, derivative products, and reputation management occupy her time as executive director of communications. She has studied consumer behavior and her published work examines business models for the digital publishing arena and the use of information sources among organizational buyers.”
Pope’s enthusiasm for generating revenue came at the expense of scientific integrity and basic editorial standards expected of an academic press.
The book Pope published has been widely condemned as a eugenic screed against sex and gender minorities. In it, author J. Michael Bailey claims that transgender women are really men who are “especially well-suited to prostitution” (page 185). Bailey also presents a case report of a child named “Danny Ryan” who was allegedly cured of being transgender. Pope and Mautner did not bother to confirm if this child actually exists. The book they put out helped the author get tenure.
When marketing trumps science and academic rigor
Pope wrote a widely-cited article on NAP’s successes in The Journal of Electronic Publishing. In it, she tells why the National Academy decided to give away its intellectual property, what happened, and why she thinks others might do the same.
Pope has also worked with The Oxford Publicity Partnership, a marketing service specially designed for nonfiction publishers and specialty presses. It is not clear if OPP is involved in the marketing of the Bailey book in the US or abroad.
Despite the outpouring of concern about Pope’s decision to market the Bailey book, NAP and Joseph Henry Press have made no efforts to rectify this decision. Pope has never made any public statements about the book or her responsibility.
Lynn Conway’s 2004 encounter with Pope
American engineer Lynn Conway is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a prominent critic of the transphobic book Pope published. In 2004, Conway happened to be at National Academies headquarters for a meeting, where she spoke directly with Pope about the harm Pope’s work had caused to a vulnerable population. Conway’s report appears below.
On Thursday, July 22, 2004, I was in Washington, D.C. to participate in a meeting of one of the National Academiesâ boards [the U.S. Air Force Science and Technology Board] of which I am a member.
The meeting was held in the Academiesâ new Keck office building at 500 Fifth Street, NW. The Keck Building is a large metal and glass building with a security-guarded entrance. Itâs one of those places in D.C. where visitors are screened and can only get in if they are cleared for entry.
That morning the idea crossed my mind that since I was already in the building that day, it would be interesting to introduce myself, at least informally, to the National Academies Press (NAP)/Joseph Henry Press (JHP) staff.
As an elected Academy member Iâd often taken advantage of meeting breaks to interact opportunistically with Academy staff. In this case, I hoped to introduce myself to the NAP/JHP staff members responsible for editing, publishing and overseeing the promotion of The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism, a book by Northwestern University psychologist J. Michael Bailey.
Since the publication of that book in early 2003, it has been widely condemned. By now those staff members must certainly be aware of the awful impact its publication has had on the trans community. After all, the author was by now widely discredited in the court of public opinion for his sloppy science and defamatory caricatures of trans women.
However, up to now Academy leadership and NAP/JHP staff had stonewalled the community, giving us the âsilent treatmentâ by never responding directly to our many complaints and requests to meet with them. It was as if we were invisible as they dismissed us as apparently powerless, friendless and of little consequence to them.
I thought to myself, âThe Academy folks must sense that they should reach out to us a bit and try to build some bridges with the trans community if they are to have any hope of saving face as Bailey and his supporters go down in infamy…â
With that thought in mind, I walked out to the lobby area during the morning break and asked the receptionist for office locations for Stephen Mautner (Executive Editor of the JHP) and Robin Pinnel (publicist for the Bailey book). She looked up the room numbers for me, and I went upstairs to see if they were in.
The NAP offices are on the third floor of the building, which is also the ground floor of a big multi-story atrium that runs up through the middle of the building. The architecture is consistent with the antiseptic style of the remainder of the building  spare and colorless, and yet somewhat pretentious in its visual display of bright metal and glass. As in the rest of the building few people are seen moving about. Itâs very quiet everywhere there, and seems as if most staff members are simply ânot inâ on any given day.
I walked through the atrium and wandered on into the NAP area. The offices were very nice and many had wonderful outside views. However, even here almost no one seemed to âbe inâ except for an administrative assistant down at one end of the hall.
I wandered the NAP corridor for a while, looking for Stephen Mautnerâs office. I found a sign for Joseph Henry Press on the wall, marking off the offices for this function of the National Academy Press. Mautnerâs office was there, but he wasnât in.
Just then the assistant to the NAPâs director, a very pleasant lady named Olive Schwarzschild, walked up to me and asked if I needed any assistance.
I introduced myself, and said I was on a break from a board meeting and thought Iâd check to see if Stephen Mautner and Robin Pinnel were in. I mentioned that they were involved in publishing a book that I was interested in Âand that Iâd hoped to briefly introduce myself to them and say hi while I was here.
Olive seemed nicely surprised by having an elected member of the National Academies stop in at the NAP offices, and she went out of her way to be very polite and helpful. She checked her notes and said that Mautner was away that day but that maybe Robin Pinnel would be in. She called over to Ms. Pinnelâs office (which apparently was in another section of the floor), but it turned out that Pinnel wasnât in at work that morning either.
While standing by Oliveâs desk I noticed out of the corner of my eye a well-dressed middle-aged woman seated at a desk in the large nearby corner office. She was looking at me and listening to what I was saying. I turned my head slightly and read the name on the outside office wall. It was the office of Barbara Kline Pope, the Director of the NAP.
I mentioned to Olive that although Mr. Mautner and Ms. Pinnel werenât in, it would be nice to be able to briefly introduce myself to Ms. Pope while I was there. I said it just loudly enough for Ms. Pope to hear me, hoping that sheâd acknowledge my presence and weâd get a chance to introduce ourselves.
Just then, Ms. Pope picked up the phone and called someone. It was 10:45 am.
Olive asked if Iâd like to sit down somewhere to wait for a few minutes, but I said âno, thatâs OK, Iâll just hang out here in hopes of having a couple of minutes to meet Barbara.â Olive assured me that Ms. Pope knew that I was there, saying that she had mentioned to her who I was shortly after Iâd first introduced myself.
I stood outside Ms. Popeâs office and waited – and waited.
Suddenly, a little after 11:00, Ms. Pope hung up the phone, walked towards the office door and, without looking at me, said quite loudly to Olive âI have a meeting at 11:00.â
This seemed odd to me, because Olive apparently didnât know about any meeting, and there was no one else waiting outside Ms. Popeâs office (plus, as things would turn out, Ms. Pope didnât leave the area after I had left nor did any other visitors enter the areaâŠ).
Anyways, by now Ms. Pope was standing in the middle of the office a few yards away from me, and she started to turn back towards her desk.
I turned towards the office door and said âHi Barbara, Iâm Lynn Conwayâ.
Ms. Pope turned back slightly towards me, but was silent.
I then said, âIâd like to introduce myselfâŠâ
Thinking that she would at least briefly invite me into her office, I started to bring my right hand up to invite a friendly handshake.
However, she cut me short by saying âI know who you are!â in a rather firm tone and with heavy emphasis on the âyouâ. This response stunned me, since Iâd never met or communicated with her, but had only criticized one of the books she had published.
I then said in as nice and calm a voice as possible: âIâm in a board meeting here and thought Iâd stop by and see if Stephen and Robin were here ÂI thought it might be helpful to put names on faces so weâd all feel we knew each other a bit better, and itâs nice to have this chance to see you while Iâm here, tooâ.
Ms. Pope was expressionless and silent, and made no move whatsoever to greet me or respond to me, much less invite me into her office. This was a long and awkward silence.
At this point I decided to shift gears and ask some questions while I had Ms. Popeâs attention. After all, sheâd set the tone for the interaction by her odd refusal to acknowledge my initial gesture of openness towards her.
âYou are aware of what a horror you folks have caused out there?â I asked, as politely and calmly as possible.
âWeâve learned a lotâ, Ms. Pope responded rather quickly, blankly and off-handedly.
âThen why are you continuing to so heavily promote Baileyâs book?â I asked.
âBecause we have a responsibility to the author!â she asserted very strongly.
I was absolutely stunned by this response, and stood silent for a while.
Recalling the Southern Poverty Law Centerâs expose of the violence against young trans women in D.C. and the role of hate science in fueling such violence, I asked her:
âBut didnât you feel any responsibility towards a very large, endangered community?â
This led to another, very awkward silence.
Ms. Pope stared blankly at me for quite a while, clearly not knowing what to say Âand possibly oblivious to what I was even referring to.
I didnât know what to say to break the silence either.
Sensing that the interaction was over, I simply said, âWell, good luck to you.â
She then turned away. The interaction was over.
Olive had been right there during all this, and seemed quite taken aback that Ms. Pope had not greeted me, had not shaken my hand and had acted so strangely during the interaction. I felt sorry about Olive being put in this unexpected position, especially since sheâd been so polite and welcoming to me as a member of the Academies.
Not wanting Olive to think that she had somehow done something wrong, I mentioned to her that the NAP/JHP had published a book that is causing lots of angst in an endangered social community, and that was probably why Ms. Pope was uncomfortable, i.e., that Ms. Pope was likely feeling a bit on the defensive about that book. Olive didnât appear to have heard of the controversy, but now sensed Ms. Popeâs uneasiness was simply due to some kind of ideological problem with a publication, and I think this made her feel better. I thanked her for her help and left the NAP office area.
Although I was running late returning from my board-meeting break, I took my time heading back through the atrium towards the elevators. Sitting down in the cafeteria, I jotted down key details of these interactions while they were fresh in my mind.
Meanwhile, I kept an eye out for possible visitors going into the NAP office area to meet with Ms. Pope. No one went into that area while I was sitting there, and at around 11:25 I headed back downstairs to the board meeting.
And so the âsilent treatmentâ continues at the National AcademiesâŠ
Lynn Conway September 19, 2004
References
Pope BK (2004). Conference biography. http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/netconference/chairs.html [archive]
Pope BK (1999). How to Succeed in Online Markets: National Academy Press: A Case Study. Journal of Online Publishing, 4;4 (May 1999). https://doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0004.408
Bailey JM (2003). The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 978-0309084185 http://www.nap.edu/books/0309084180/html/ [archive]
Anthony Francis “Tony” Bogaert (born 1963) is a Canadian psychologist who has written on asexuality and paraphilia.
Background
Bogaert earned a PhD in Psychology from the Western University in 1993, with a dissertation titled “The Sexual Media: The Role Of Individual Differences.”
He then did postdoctorate work at the University of Toronto and Queenâs University. In 1996, he was appointed to a position at Brock University.
Asexuality and transgender people
Bogaert argues that some asexual people have a lack of subjective sexual attraction, meaning that they experience objective attraction or arousal, but their subjective identity as a person is not connected to that attraction. Via his book Understanding Asexuality:
Theyâas individualsâ are disconnected from their sexual responses to others of to sexual stimulation on some level. The missing piece for them is the I or me, or an identity as an individual, in subjective sexual attraction. In other words, the I is missing in the statement “I am attracted to . . .”
A similar phenomenon may occur in some forms of transgenderism. A transgendered person who was born as a biological male, for example, may not “own” his masculine responses. This individual may behave in a traditional masculine way, he may appear masculine, and his body my respond to stimulation in a traditionally masculine way, even sexually. But if this person does not “own” her responses, and in fact is completely disconnected from them because of an internal sense of self as female, these masculine responses are not part of her identity, or her I or me.
Similar forms of disconnected sexuality have been discussed in the clinical literature on paraphilias. Indeed, this phenomenon may be construed as a rather exotic paraphilia, which literally means “beyond love,” or “love beyond the usual.” Thus, a paraphilia can mean that an individual has a sexual attraction to something unusual. It could also imply something broader: any kind of unusual sexual phenomenon associated with a person, and not merely a sexual attraction to something unusual. As a consequence, if you are keeping score, the label of “asexuality” could still apply to masterbating asexuals with “disconnected” fantasies, because their paraphilia is an unusual sexual phenomenon: there is no subjective sexual attraction to anything. Complicated indeed!
Bogaert, p. 118-119
Automonosexualism and transgender people
Automonosexualism was proposed by Rohleder in 1907 as a term for people who are attracted to themselves sexually. Bogaert subscribes to Blanchard’s “erotic target location error” hypothesis, where someone directs their sexual interests inward instead of outward:
Automonosexualism is rare and has sometimes been associated with transgendered individuals. For example, the phenomenon of autogynephilia (in which a man is sexually attracted to himself, but as a woman) is a type of auyomonosexualism.
Bogaert, p. 120
Publications
Understanding Asexuality
Bogaert, A.F., Ashton, M.C., & Lee, K. (in press). Sexual orientation and personality: Extension to asexuality and the HEXACO model. Journal of Sex Research.
Ellis, L., Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A.F. (in press). Handedness, sexual orientation, and biomarkers for prenatal androgens: Are southpaws really that gay? Laterality.
Hafer, C. L., Mantonakis, A., Fitzgerald, A., & Bogaert, A. F. (in press). The effectiveness of deservingness-based advertising messages: The role of product knowledge and belief in a just world. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences.
Hoffarth, M., & Bogaert, A. F. (in press). Opening the closet door: Openness to experience, masculinity, religiosity, and coming out among same-sex attracted men. Personality and Individual Differences.
Bogaert, A. F. (2017). What asexuality tells us about sexuality: Commentary on Brotto and Yule (2016). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 629.
Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Pubertal Stress and nutrition, and the association of sexual orientation and height in the Add Health data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 217-236.
Skorska, M., Blanchard, R., Zucker, K., VanderLaan, D. & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Gay Male Only-Children: Evidence for Low Birth Weight and High Maternal Miscarriages. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 205-215.
Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Sexual orientation, objective height, and self-reported height. Journal of Sex Research, 54, 19-32.
Bogaert, A. F. (2016). Asexuality as an orientation. In S. B. Levine (Ed.) Handbook of Clinical Sexuality for Mental Health Professionals, 3rd Ed. (pp. 385-388).New York: Routledge.
Bogaert, A. F., Visser, B. A., & Pozzebon, J. A. (2015). Gender differences in object of desire self-consciousness sexual fantasies. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 2299-2310.
Skorska, M. N., Geniole, S. N., Vrysen, T., McCormick, C.M., & Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Face structure predicts sexual orientation in men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 1377-1394.
Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Asexuality: What is it, and why it matters. Annual Review of Sex Research, 52, 362-379.
Pozzebon, J.A., Visser, B. A., & Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Vocational interests, personality, and sexual fantasies as indicators of a general masculinity/femininity factor. Personality and Individual Differences, 86, 291â296.
Visser, B. A., DeBow, V., Pozzebon, J. A., Bogaert, A. F., & Book, A. (2015). Psychopathic sexuality: The thin line between fantasy and reality. Journal of Personality, 83, 376â388.
*Bogaert, A. F., & Brotto, L. (2014). Object of desire self-consciousness theory. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 40, 323-338. *Awarded the best theory paper for 2014, Ira and Harriet Reiss Theory Award, by the Society for Scientific Study of Sex (SSSS) and the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sex (FSSS) in September, 2015.
Rubel, A.N., & Bogaert, A.F. (2014). Consensual non-monogamy: Psychological well-being and relationship quality correlates. Journal of Sex Research, 4, 1-22.
Bogaert, A. F. (2013). The demography of asexuality. In A. Baumle (Ed.), International handbook on the demography of sexuality. (pp. 275-288). New York: Springer Press.
Bogaert, A. F., & Liu, J. (2013). Physical size and sexual orientation: Analysis of the Chinese Health and Family Life Survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1555â1559
.Bogaert, A. F. (2012). Understanding Asexuality. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Inc.
Bogaert, A.F. (2012). Asexuality and autochorissexualism (identity-less sexuality). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1513-1514.
Pozzebon, J. A., Visser, B. A., & Bogaert, A. F. (2012). What makes you think youâre so sexy, tall, and thin? The prediction of self-rated attractiveness, height, and weight. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,42, 2671â2700.
Anthony Bogaert on transsexualismAnthony Bogaert is and associate professor at Brock University in Ontario. He has published work with Ray Blanchard and J. Michael Bailey.
Johnson is Managing editor of The Archives of Sexual Behavior journal controlled by Clarke Institute personnel via the International Academy of Sex Research.
Co-authors include race scientist Julian-Phillippe Rushton (at Western Ontario University) John Cairney (also at Brock) and Ray Blanchard of the Clarke Institute.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Proportion of homosexual men who owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order: An estimate based on two national probability samples. Am J Human Biol. 2004 Mar-Apr;16(2):151-7. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF, Cairney J. The interaction of birth order and parental age on sexual orientation: an examination in two samples. J Biosoc Sci. 2004 Jan;36(1):19-37. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines, Canalda L2S 3A1.
Bogaert AF. Interaction of older brothers and sex-typing in the prediction of sexual orientation in men. Arch Sex Behav. 2003 Apr;32(2):129-34. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. tbogaertATspartan.ac.brocku.ca
Bogaert AF. The interaction of fraternal birth order and body size in male sexual orientation. Behav Neurosci. 2003 Apr;117(2):381-4. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Number of older brothers and sexual orientation: new tests and the attraction/behavior distinction in two national probability samples. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Mar;84(3):644-52. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Friesen C. Sexual orientation and height, weight, and age of puberty: new tests from a British national probability sample. Biol Psychol. 2002 Mar;59(2):135-45. Department of Community Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Friesen C, Klentrou P. Age of puberty and sexual orientation in a national probability sample. Arch Sex Behav. 2002 Feb;31(1):73-81. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Cantor JM, Blanchard R, Paterson AD, Bogaert AF. How many gay men owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order? Arch Sex Behav. 2002 Feb;31(1):63-71. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF. Personality, individual differences, and preferences for the sexual media. Arch Sex Behav. 2001 Feb;30(1):29-53. Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Handedness, criminality, and sexual offending. Neuropsychologia. 2001;39(5):465-9. Community Health Sciences, Brock University, L2S 3A1, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected]
Blanchard R, Barbaree HE, Bogaert AF, Dickey R, Klassen P, Kuban ME, Zucker KJ. Fraternal birth order and sexual orientation in pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav. 2000 Oct;29(5):463-78. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Hershberger S. The relation between sexual orientation and penile size. Arch Sex Behav. 1999 Jun;28(3):213-21. Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected] Comment in: Arch Sex Behav. 2000 Jun;29(3):303-5.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Birth order in homosexual versus heterosexual sex offenders against children, pubescents, and adults. Arch Sex Behav. 1998 Dec;27(6):595-603. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. The relation of closed birth intervals to the sex of the preceding child and the sexual orientation of the succeeding child. J Biosoc Sci. 1997 Jan;29(1):111-8. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF. Birth order and sibling sex ratio in homosexual and heterosexual non-white men. Arch Sex Behav. 1998 Oct;27(5):467-73. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Birth order and sexual orientation in women. Behav Neurosci. 1997 Dec;111(6):1395-7. Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Bezeau S, Kuban M, Blanchard R. Pedophilia, sexual orientation, and birth order. J Abnorm Psychol. 1997 May;106(2):331-5. Department of Behavioral Sexology, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Additive effects of older brothers and homosexual brothers in the prediction of marriage and cohabitation. Behav Genet. 1997 Jan;27(1):45-54. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Genital asymmetry in men. Hum Reprod. 1997 Jan;12(1):68-72. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Biodemographic comparisons of homosexual and heterosexual men in the Kinsey Interview Data. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Dec;25(6):551-79. Gender Identity Clinic, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF, Blanchard R. Handedness in homosexual and heterosexual men in the Kinsey interview data. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Aug;25(4):373-8. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Bogaert AF. Volunteer bias in human sexuality research: evidence for both sexuality and personality differences in males. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Apr;25(2):125-40. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Homosexuality in men and number of older brothers. Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Jan;153(1):27-31. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comment in: Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136-7. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136; author reply 137. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136; author reply 137.
Rushton JP, Bogaert AF. Population differences in susceptibility to AIDS: an evolutionary analysis. Soc Sci Med. 1989;28(12):1211-20. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Ann Merchant (born circa 1957) is an American marketing executive who was involved in creating promotional material for the transphobic 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Merchant has never commented publicly on her involvement.
Ann Merchant in 2012. Source: YouTube
At that time, Merchant was Marketing Director at Joseph Henry Press and National Academies Press. Merchant’s computer signature was found in the code for the promotional material entitled “Praise” included in the press kit prepared by Joseph Henry Press publicist Robin Pinnel.
Biography
Ann G. Merchant earned her Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She worked in fulfillment at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before joining the National Academies Press in 1990. In 2004 she was named Director of Outreach & Marketing for The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). In 2009, she was named Deputy Executive Director of NASEM’s Office of Communications.
Allen Rosenthal is an American psychologist and anti-transgender activist who published pathologizing research on transgender people and trans-attracted people with advisor J. Michael Bailey at Northwestern University.
Rosenthal is based in Vallejo California. Do not go to Rosenthal for therapy of any kind, especially if you are trans or gender diverse.
Background
Allen Michael Rosenthal was born December 10, 1979. Rosenthal graduated in 1997 from Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, Virginia, then attended Brigham Young University from 2004 to 2006. Around that time, Rosenthal earned the first of two Bachelor’s degrees.
Rosenthal earned a second Bachelor’s Degree in psychology from University Of Utah in 2006, where he was a member of Psi Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Golden Key Honor Society. He then came to Northwestern University for his PhD.
Rosenthal wrote in 2008:
I moved to Chicago in July of 2007 after having spent ten bittersweet years in Utah. While there, I started college at Brigham Young University, came out of the closet at the ripe ol’ age of 18, left BYU, moved to Salt Lake City, and met my partner (now of nine years). Together, we became ‘New Agers’ for several years, were heavily involved with life enhancement trainings, and then became anti-‘New Agers’ (read: realists). Finally, beginning in 2004, I discovered psychology–the ‘science of the mind’–and completed a BS (my second) in Psychology at the University of Utah.
The Northwestern University psychology department profiled him in 2011:
Originally from the suburbs of Washington, DC, Allen Rosenthal completed his undergraduate work at the University of Utah, where he graduated with a major in psychology in 2006. Before he began attending graduate school, he worked in three psychology labs and gained clinical experience doing psychological assessments of sex offenders. Allenâs primary research area is sexual orientation and the paraphilias (i.e., uncommon / unusual sexual interests). Although his interests within this field are many, he is especially interested in the relationships between sexual arousal, behavior, and orientation. His lab has recently published two papers on a study of the sexual arousal of bisexual men. Contrary to earlier controversial findings which suggested that bisexual men are only aroused by men, they found that a subpopulation of bisexual men are aroused by both men and women (in the lab). Currently, Allen is conducting two studies of men who are sexually attracted to partially transitioned male-to-female transsexuals. This phenomenon is referred to as gynandromorphophilia (GAM), which roughly translates to woman-man-form-lover. Very little is known about men with GAM. Perhaps of greatest interest is whether they are otherwise primarily sexually attracted to men or women; one could easily tell the story either way. In another ongoing study, they are assessing the genital arousal of some of these men in the lab. When Allen is not doing research or clinical work, he enjoys being with his partner of twelve years and their two cats. He and his partner enjoy good food, movies, and gardening. His idea of heaven is making dinner with him using their own produce while Frank Sinatra plays in the background. He is also an avid cyclist and is oft to be found on the lakeshore trail bordering Lake Michigan. He gets some of his best thinking done while biking to and from Northwestern everyday. After graduate school, he plans on finding an academic job that will allow him to continue to wear his three favorite hats: researcher, clinician, and teacher.
Rosenthal interned from 2015-2016 at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Charleston. That school says he then worked in the Department of Psychiatry at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Vallejo, California.
Rosenthal was reportedly subjected to sexual orientation change efforts by NARTH.
Anti-transgender activism
Rosenthal diagnoses the common attraction to trans women as “gynandromorphophilia” (GAMP), which he and his colleagues describe as “sexual interest in gynandromorphs (GAMs; colloquially, shemales).”
Rosenthal and Bailey also magically “discovered” that bisexual men exist after receiving money from the American Institute of Bisexuality. Before the payment, Bailey had proclaimed in the press that bisexual men do not exist, saying males are “gay, straight, or lying.”
Hsu KJ, Rosenthal AM, Miller DI, Bailey JM (2015). Who are gynandromorphophilic men? Characterizing men with sexual interest in transgender women. Psychological Medicine. 2016 Mar;46(4):819-27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715002317 Epub 2015 Oct 26.
Rosenthal AM, Hsu KJ, Bailey JM (2017). Who are gynandromorphophilic men? An internet survey of men with sexual interest in transgender women. Archives of Sexual Behavior [17 Nov 2016, 46(1):255-264] https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0872-6
Khytam Dawood was a J. Michael Bailey student at Northwestern University and is now a geneticist at University of Chicago trying to replicate the “gay gene” work reported by Dean Hamer.
Dawood wrote one of the first glowing Amazon reviews for Bailey’s 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen. This book is widely considered the most defamatory book on gender variance since Janice Raymond published The Transsexual Empire in 1979. Dawood is a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as well as the member of a n number of behavior genetics trade groups.
Dawood is also involved in the gay brothers study with Alan Sanders.
This study reports on genetic and environmental influences on the frequency of orgasm in women during sexual intercourse, during other sexual contact with a partner, and during masturbation. Participants were drawn from the Australian Twin Registry, and recruited from a large, partly longitudinal twin-family study. Three thousand and eighty women responded to the anonymous self-report questionnaire, including 667 complete monozygotic (MZ) pairs and 377 complete dizygotic (DZ) same-sex pairs, 366 women from complete DZ opposite-sex pairs, and 626 women whose co-twins did not participate. Significant twin correlations were found for both MZ and DZ twin pairs for all three items of interest. Age effects were statistically significant for some items. Models incorporating additive genetic, shared and nonshared environmental influences provided the best fit for Items 1 and 3, while a model with additive and nonadditive genetic influences along with nonshared envir-onment fitted the data from Item 2. While an independent pathway model fits the data most par-simoniously, a common pathway model incorporating additive genetic (A), shared environment (C), and unique environment (E) effects cannot be ruled out. Overall, genetic influences account for approximately 31% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during sexual intercourse, 37% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during sexual contact other than during intercourse, and 51% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during masturbation. Following Baker (1996), we speculate that this additive genetic variance might arise from frequency-dependent selection for a variety of female sexual strategies.
Research has generally supported the existence of familial-genetic factors for male sexual orientation, but has not shed much light on the specific nature of those influences. Gay men with gay brothers provide the opportunity to examine several hypotheses. Sixty-six men, representing 37 gay male sibling pairs, completed questionnaires assessing behavior on various measures including childhood and adult gender nonconformity, timing of awareness of homosexual feelings, self-acceptance, and the quality of family relationships. Consistent with prior findings using twins, gay brothers were similar in their degree of childhood gender nonconformity, suggesting that this variable may distinguish etiologically (e.g., genetically) heterogeneous subtypes. The large majority of gay men with brothers knew about their own homosexual feelings before they learned about their brothersâ homosexual feelings, suggesting that discovery of brothersâ homosexuality is not an important cause of male homosexuality.
Available evidence suggests that male homosexuality is both familial and somewhat heritable and that some cases may be caused by an X-linked gene. However, most studies have recruited subjects in a relatively unsystematic manner, typically via advertisements, and hence suffer from the potential methodological flaw of ascertainment bias due to volunteer self-selection. In the present study we assessed the familiality of male homosexuality using two carefully ascertained samples and attempted to replicate findings consistent with X-linkage in three samples. The percentage of siblings of the probands rated as either homosexual or bisexual, with a high degree of certainty, ranged from 7 to 10% for brothers and 3 to 4% for sisters. These estimates are higher than recent comparable population-based estimates of homosexuality, supporting the importance of familial factors for male homosexuality. Estimates of lambda s for male homosexuality ranged from 3.0 to 4.0. None of the samples showed a significantly greater proportion of maternal than paternal homosexual uncles or homosexual male maternal first cousins. Although our results differed significantly with those of some prior studies, they do not exclude the possibility of moderate X-linkage for male sexual orientation.
University of Chicago researchers Khytam Dawood and Alan Sanders seek assistance in a research study entitled âMolecular Genetic Study of Sexual Orientationâ. The study seeks to recruit approximately 500 pairs of homosexual brothers and available parents in order to perform a linkage study to better understand the genetic contributions to this trait. A sample size of 500 brother pairs will allow the study to clear up some of the statistical uncertainty in this field of inquiry in previous work (~50 or fewer pairs of brothers each, and only examining the X chromosome, i.e., Dean Hamer’s work and others). For further information, contact Alan Sanders, M.D., University of Chicago, phone: 773 834-3502, email: [email protected]; website: http://psychiatry.bsd.uchicago.edu/research/familyschizophrenia.html
Khytam Dawood, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in human behavior genetics research. Her work is primarily focused on investigating the genetics and development of human sexual orientation. A related area of clinical and research interest is in child and adolescent gender nonconformity, and gender identity disorder.
Child/Adolescent Gender Identity Service. This rotation includes clinical experience with both children and adolescent populations. Interns will also receive training in providing comprehensive psychological evaluation for gender identity problems in children and adolescents where there is concern about a childâs gender identity development, or an adolescent who is struggling with sexual orientation. A support group for parents will also be offered. The rotation requires participation in weekly group supervision and a weekly clinical/research seminar, and guided practice in cognitive-behavioral case formulation. (Director: Khytam Dawood)
